US diplomats are circulating a new draft of a United Nations resolution calling for sanctions on North Korea in response to its claimed nuclear test. US envoy John Bolton said he hoped the new draft, which is due to be tabled later, would pass by the weekend. The draft targets the North's missile and nuclear programmes and invokes the UN's Chapter Seven, which could eventually allow the use of force. But divisions remain among key nations, with China unhappy with the new draft. The underground test reportedly took place at 1036 (0136 GMT) on Monday in Gilju in north-east Hamgyong province. Russia is the only country to have confirmed that it was a nuclear explosion, amid speculation the test was not wholly successful. North Korea has said it will take "strong countermeasures" against Japan if it goes ahead with new sanctions against the country, a senior North Korean diplomat was quoted as saying on Thursday. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

Bush yesterday pledged to follow through on building 698 miles of wall along the U.S.-Mexico border but said that the Department of Homeland Security will decide where and that he wants sensors and cameras to watch the border. "We're going to do both," Mr. Bush said at a press conference yesterday. "We're just going to make sure that we build it in a spot where it works." Some fence advocates and members of Congress have questioned Mr. Bush's commitment to fencing. The president yesterday said it is a part of his broader border-security strategy. "You can't fence the entire border, but what you can do is you can use a combination of fencing and technology to make it easier for the Border Patrol to enforce our border," he said. Mr. Bush said any solution on the border will also require a guest-worker program, which he said would funnel workers through legal points of entry. ...http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20061012-124422-1595r.htm

The Vatican announced the bishop of Davenport's retirement Thursday, two days after the Roman Catholic diocese filed for bankruptcy amid dozens of lawsuits alleging priest sex abuse.Bishop William Franklin had offered his resignation in May 2005 when he turned 75, as required by Canon law.The Vatican said Thursday that his resignation had been approved and that he would be succeeded by Monsignor Martin J. Amos, an auxiliary bishop in Cleveland, Ohio.Franklin, now 76, said age was a chief factor in his decision.The Diocese of Davenport on Tuesday became the fourth Catholic diocese in the United States to file for bankruptcy amid the national clergy sexual abuse scandal, following the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, and the dioceses of Tucson, Arizona and Spokane, Washington....http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2006-10-12-iowabishop_x.htm?csp=34

A British man pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring to bomb high-profile targets in the United States including the International Monetary Fund headquarters in Washington and the New York Stock Exchange. "I plead guilty," Dhiran Barot, 32, said in a clear voice at Woolwich Crown Court in south London. Other alleged targets in the plot, which was foiled by Barot's arrest in 2004, included the World Bank headquarters in Washington, the Citigroup building in New York and the Prudential building in Newark, N.J. Prosecutor Edward Lawson said Barot planned "to carry out explosions at those premises with no warning. They were plainly designed to kill as may people as possible." In Britain, Barot planned to pack gas cylinders into limousines and detonate them in underground parking garages, Lawson said. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/12/terror/main2084733.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_2084733

Opponents of a Georgia law that cracks down on where sex offenders can live are launching a new offensive to block a provision that could evict offenders who live within 1,000 feet of churches. The Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights filed a motion Thursday that outlines the cases of nine anonymous elderly and disabled offenders who would be evicted from nursing homes, trailers or relatives' houses if the law is enforced. "By virtue of their advanced age and/or physical condition, these plaintiffs are not a danger to anyone," a draft of the motion states. "Yet the law makes no exception for them." The church provision was part of a sweeping law, which took effect July 1, that prohibits sex offenders from living, working or loitering within 1,000 feet of just about anywhere children gather including schools, parks, gyms, bus stops and swimming pools. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2558604

A Red Cross delegation has met with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and 13 other “high-value detainees” at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, a Pentagon spokesman said Thursday.The officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross met the 14 newest detainees at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba this week, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon.Red Cross spokesmen in Washington and Geneva refused to comment, saying they would issue a statement in coming days. The Red Cross delegation arrived at Guantanamo on Sept. 25. Earlier Thursday, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said that the detention of terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay is unacceptable and counterproductive, underlining an increasingly critical British line on the U.S.-run prison from America’s closest ally....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15235758/